Concours d`Elegance… - Central Oklahoma Jaguar Association

October 2009
I suspect it’s a tribute to the skills of our various members,
but the Concours still came off in a professional and organized
UR ANNUAL CONCOURS EVENT HAPPENED THIS YEAR fashion. The committee heads simply recovered and adjusted
and moved on.
on Sept 12th, and went well despite a few glitches.
The loss of the
The Friday evening registration and gab session
Pepsi wagon caused
went well, the finger foods provided by the Mercedes folks
some pain, but the lawere consumed with vigor and conversation flowed throughout
dies of the club just
the evening.
overcame the problem,
Bill and Geleeta York had their
set up some tables, and
‘57 XK-140 in the Jag showroom
got the program runfor the evening, and it was a major
ning. To the public, it
hit. The car is a beauty, and really
looked like we had
represents the history of Jaguar and
planned on having the
its heritage.
Above: Bob Stewart provided
arrangement
without
Over the course of the evening,
this shot of the XK8s lined up
the
wagon
all
along.
folks came in at
for the show.
I should probably
various times to eat,
mention the weather as a factor also. We were
chat, tell tall stories,
carefully watching the skies all day, since the foreand pick up the regcasts from the TV stations were all calling for a
istration packets.
Left: Jill and
Glenn and Jolene
Marketa
a r e substantial chance of rain. The good news was that
Short handled the
checkin’ out the the skies, though cloudy and overcast, did not have
XK-140.
any rain until about 2:00 or so in the afternoon.
task of getting eveAbove: Glenn and
That allowed everyone to get the judging comryone signed in and
Jolene did a fine
logged into the comjob of registra- pleted, and the band had some lead time to begin
puter.
packing before the heavy rains hit. In fact, I had
tion.
conversation with Ada Jean West of the Tulsa
We were faced
with some real challenges this year. Jerry Penry, our able Club. She had spoken with her daughter in Norman about 1:30
Chairman, was called away on Saturday of the
or so, and the rains had hit Norman by then, and
the rain showers were moving north! We started
show to a Federal level meeting regarding the inthe breakdown before the rain hit, and it rained the
surance business, so we had to adjust to that loss.
rest of the afternoon.
Another problem we faced was the complete
The setup for the show turned out to be pretty
letdown regarding the Pepsi wagon. It was schednice. This year, Tom Davis graciously offered the
uled to arrive either on Friday evening, or early
use of his motor home for HQ registration activiSaturday morning, but it was a no-show. Tom
ties, and that worked out very nicely.
Davis was present when JD Ogle of the Mercedes
Our music was provided by KOMA’s Ronnie
Club phoned the wagon master, and all appeared to
Kay, and live music was courtesy of All Saints
be in order. It was not, somehow. Dang, hate it
when that happens...
(Continued on page 2)
Concours d’Elegance…
O
Page 1
Central Oklahoma
Jaguar Association
Affiliated with the Jaguar Clubs of North America
101 NE 52nd
Oklahoma City, OK
73105
405405-601601-0676
The Central Oklahoma Jaguar Association, Inc, is a nonprofit club organized for the purpose of promoting the
appreciation, enjoyment, good maintenance, and preservation of fine automobiles in general and Jaguar automobiles in particular, and promoting and encouraging fellowship among people who possess these similar goals.
Club Officer Information
President:
Shane York
321 S Barker
El Reno, OK
73036
C: 405405-664664-1238
H: 405405-262262-0619
E: [email protected]
ViceVice-President:
Johnny Alston
6121 Stinchcomb Ave
Oklahoma City, OK
73132
H: 405405-722722-3351
C: 405405-474474-5154
E: [email protected]
Treasurer:
Rogers Abbott
W: 405405-601601-0676
101 NE 52nd
H: 405405-348348-6532
Oklahoma City, OK
73105
E:
[email protected]
Editor:
Steve Houtari
10033 Hidden Hollow Lane
Oklahoma City, OK
73151
H: 405405-771771-5715
C: 405405-740740-5524
E: [email protected]
Membership
Annual Membership: $45. Note: This includes membership in
the Jaguar Clubs of North America.
Advertising
Business Card Size Space: $10 per Month, 3 month min. or
$100 per year. Full page $30 per month, half page is $25.
Personal ads for members (non(non-comm’l) are free.
This newsletter is published monthly by the Central Oklahoma Jaguar association. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the editor and correspondents and do not
necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Jaguar Clubs
of North America or Jaguar Cars. Neither the editor, members, nor contributors to this publication are responsible
for statements or claims made by advertisers.
Concours...
(Continued from page 1)
Infirmary, a local jazz group
that was kind enough to provide their services for free.
These folks were very talented, and it was a delight to
have them at our show this
year. We used our large tent
to shelter the band from any
rain that might have fallen,
and it proved to be a good
Bob Stewart did fine work on the Baridea, as the breakdown started bie. Harry Frantz was on another unit
before the rain hit, but still cooking up a storm as well.
took about a half hour to put
their equipment away.
We had our cars lined up along the park blocks, and folks
got to check out the finest in British and German auto beauty.
Smoke came pouring
out of the grill units,
and that probably contributed to many folks
stopping to check out
the cars and the food.
Saturday evening
was the banquet and
awards dinner. We had
two auctions this year.
The first was a silent
Tom’s motor home provided a nice backdrop auction, with the various items on display on
for the registration table.
tables and a sign up
sheet for the folks to write their names and the bid amounts. At
the end of the auction, the
folks then got their items by
virtue of the highest bids.
The second auction was a
live auction and our featured
auctioneer was Margie Cobb.
We had a smaller number of
items up for bid, but the results
were more than satisfying. We
ended up raising over $8500
The always lovely Cynthia showed the
for the Genesis Project.
items to the folks in order to entice
Some of the auction items ’em to bid higher! It worked!
proved to be quite desirable. A
local artist painted a set of 4 works, featuring two Jags and two
Mercedes. The idea here was that the bid winner would select
his or her choice from the four paintings. Then the three remaining paintings were opened again for bids, with the winner
selecting his or her choice.
Melanie Davis grabbed up the first one (I believe it was the
XK220) for a winning bid of $1000! The second painting (of an
XK-120) went to Bob and Pat Stewart for a winning bid of
$500.
One of the items that I bid for was a “mystery” item. It
came in a black plastic bag, sealed, and with a Jaguar part number on it. When ya felt it, it became quickly obvious that it was
(Continued on page 4)
Page 2
Page 3
Concours...
Tech Session…
(Continued from page 2)
cloth of some kind, and it was what could only be a shirt or
similar thing. I was able to obtain a fine black T-shirt with the
Jaguar growler and
Daimler “D” on it for a
prince’s ransom of $225,
proceeds to charity. (A
few days later, I did an
iron-on-transfer with the
words “My most expensive shirt ever!”)
I had hoped to obtain
a numbered print of the
Jaguar C-Type winning
at LeMans in 1953, pro- Steve is telling the story of why there is a
vided by Terry’s Jag “Steve Houtari Stupid Award”...
Parts. Got into a bidding
war with Rogers Abbott, and he went beyond my limit and got
the prize.
A tip of the hat is in order for the help that Cynthia McCoy
did for the bidding. She modeled several of the items and carried them through the bidders to generate more interest and
show off the items. It worked!
In all, the live auction raised just a touch over $5000 for the
Genesis Project.
The Silent Auction had many more items, but they were not
as costly. For example, Dick Heiderich bid $55 to obtain a
fender protector. Johnny Alston got a nice dress shirt for $30
while Jess and Sarah Baxter picked up an E-Type model for
$50, and a Thor knock-off hammer for $45.
The totals for the silent auction came to just under $2000!
Cynthia and Sarah took over to provide the distribution of
the door prizes. Ya had only to check your ticket stubs while
Cynthia was reading off the numbers. Blair Davis helped to
distribute the items to the winners. He was kept busy!
One of the interesting presentations came about during the
awards portion of the evening. Seems that Tom Davis and the
club have initiated a new award, an annual award presented to
the club member who does something really stupid. Like nearly
burn a Jaguar to the ground (see story of the Great Jaguar Engine Bay Fire on page 6). The award is called the “Steve Houtari Stupid Award” and hopefully, the editor will avoid a repeat
win in that category! By the way, rather than present a nice
plaque or other useless decoration, Tom presented me with a
nice fire extinguisher! It now lives in the glove box of the XKR!
This year we saw two competing XJSs get 100 points! Both
cars were from the Dallas club, and both cars were in a tie for
the People’s Choice award! The winner was eventually chosen
by coin toss, and Alexandra Eaton was the winner. Margaret
McDowell (President of the Dallas Club) was the owner of the
other XJS, and she brought remarks from Dallas and an invitation to come to Frisco TX for their show the following weekend.
You’ll notice I have not listed the scores. This is to save
space; you can see the scores at the JCNA website any time.
G
ENE MCCLENDON HAS ONCE AGAIN DONE A FINE JOB
of arranging for a tech session for the club. Charlie
Poston of BG Products will discuss the various antifreeze products on the market and their chemical composition.
Additionally, he will check the antifreeze/coolant on the vehicle of each attendee to determine the DCA (Deposit Control
Additive) level.
A year or
so back, Charlie did a presentation
regarding
engine oils and
lubricants, and
it was a most
interesting
presentation.
Plus, we got
some
great
barbecue for
dinner
that
night! How can ya beat a deal like that?
The location for the briefing will be the BG Products training facility, the time will be 6:00 in the evening. The facility is
located at 6601 W Wilshire Blvd in OKC. To get there, go to
NW Expressway and MacArthur. Go northwest on NW Expressway and get in the left lane. You’ll come to a signal for
Wilshire, turn left onto Wilshire. The facility is a ways down
the street on the right.
Another way to get there is to go to north on Rockwell
past Wiley Post Airport. Wilshire is the northern boundary of
the field, so turn east onto Wilshire, the facility is on the north
side of the street.
Summary
What:
Date:
Time:
Where:
Cost:
Page 4
Tech session
Wed, Sept 30th
6:00 in the evening
BG Products Training Facility
6601 W Wilshire
Nuttin’, plus we get dinner!
Star of the Parade…
Fall Fling…
By Shane York
AST WEEK
L
I GOT A CALL FROM A MS ETTA DUNLAP
wanting to know if I would be interested in using my
Jaguar in the Del City High School Homecoming Parade
September 24th. Her daughter, Deanna Dunlap had won the High
School Track Team Princess Award and Ms Dunlap wanted to
get a Jaguar for her to ride in the parade.
I accepted and showed up at 12:30 pm in the High School
parking lot. Even though it was overcast I had my XJS really
spruced up and rarin’ to go. I had spread our Jaguar throw over
the top frame well using magnets on the corners to keep it
smooth. and placed our Jaguar spotted pillow in the middle for
Deanna to sit on. Ms Dunlap and daughter showed up and were
blown away! Deanna was very excited and said she had never
seen such a beautiful car in her life ! Her mother could hardly
speak ! They both were extremely overwhelmed and yours truly
was very proud to be the owner of my Jaguar XJS.
I suggested that Deanna ride with me to the assembly point of
the parade and she gladly accepted. As we drove through the
crowds of students you should have seen Deanna's reactions to
the other students and theirs
to her; turns out she not only
is the Track Team's Princess
but also the Senior Class Vice
Left and Below: Shane and Deanna
are all set up for the Homecoming
Parade...
President! Everyone knew her
and shouted their approval and
envy as we went by.
At the assembly area, we
were the ONLY JAGUAR in
the parade. There were a few
Mustangs, Corvettes, Thunderbirds and Nissans but we were
the only Jaguar ! Deanna was extremely proud and so was her
mother, who later told me that she had not told Deanna what type
of car she had gotten for her to ride in. (Oh yes, I should also say
that her escort, Aric finally showed up at the last moment and
they both sat together on the back of the car.)
The parade finally started about 1:45 and ran about an hour
through the streets around the High School. Lots of pictures from
the crowd were taken of us as we went by, you'd think no one
had ever seen a Jaguar before! Lots of cheering from the crowd
as we went by. Deanna and her escort Aric thanked me for coming and providing such a keen ride for them
When the parade was over I asked Deanna’s mother Etta if
she wanted a ride and of course she accepted and away we went.
She too had a great time riding in my Jaguar and thanked me for
providing her daughter with such a wonderful ride in the parade.
As I drove off I got a lot of hi-fives and V’s from the students
which also made me very proud of my Jaguar as we drove back
home to El Reno.
O
NE OF THE BEST EVENTS OF THE ENTIRE CALENDAR
year is upon us. The Fall Fling is a traditional event
where we get away with our club members for 3 days
of rest and recuperation, and we eat at some fine restaurants. We
get to do a nice drive in our Jags, and we’ll be sure to gather at
some nice restaurants for fine dining. (Do ya get the hint that
the club likes to eat at nice places?)
The primary B&B, Echo Canyon
Manor, is booked up, but the secondary location has some rooms open.
For info on Shiloh Morning, hit their
website at www.shilohmorning.com.
The dates for the weekend are Oct 16
thru 18, and for the folks that are new this year, if you have to
cancel business meetings or family vacations, do so in order to
go on the Fall Fling! It’s worth the time and effort.
For those that can break away during the day, we will probably caravan down the afternoon of Friday the 16th. Stay tuned
for more info on that. If you have questions, contact Sarah Baxter at [email protected] or by phone at 794-9279.
Inventory Sale…
S
BAXTER SENT ME A NOTE REGARDING SOME leftover shirts from days gone by. We need to sell these off
to git shed of ‘em!
Here’s what we have, and the prices:
ARAH
Yellow Dress Shirts ($15):
Large
XL
White Dress Shirts ($30):
XL
2XL
9
12
6
3
T-Shirt($20), COJA Fall Concours 1973-2008,
35th Anniversary:
Small
2
Medium
16
Large
22
XL
26
2XL
8
T-Shirt($20), COJA Flag 35 Years (on back):
Medium
2
Large
9
XL
8
2XL
7
Contact Sarah Baxter at [email protected] or by phone at
794-9279.
Page 5
JOASW Concours…
S
All European Show…
I AM RETIRED, THAT MEANS THAT I HAVE A BIT
more freedom to attend various things around the JCNA
system if I choose. I decided to attend the Jaguar
Owner’s Association of the Southwest Concours this year, and
it turned out that I was the only COJA fellow there.
Their event was the weekend following our Concours, and
the
location
was excellent!
They had the
show right in
front of the
city hall building of Frisco
TX! The street
was blocked
off for the
show, and this
allowed for a
really
fine
setting.
We
were enter- City Hall is shown above, the street was blocked off for the
tained by a 4 show.
piece
jazz Below: A contrast of the old and the new...
INCE
band that played
throughout the afternoon.
The field had 33
Jags in the show! And
the two XJSs belonging
to Alexandra Eaton and
Margaret McDowell
were again tied with
100 point scores!
Perhaps the hit of the show was Rufus Coburn’s 1935 SS
90, a true classic that got 100 points! The local dealerships
from Ft Worth and Dallas provided an XFR and an XK convertible, and these two cars provided a nice contrast to the prewar chariot!
My XKR had some competition in the S03class this time.
Most of the time, I am the only entry in the modified class, so it
was nice to compare notes on another effort. This car was a
gray Series III E Type coupe, and it was pretty neat. The fellow was slowly working on the car, but I noticed right away
that the car had a set of the classic race wheels that you see on
lots of older cars. These were Super Lite wheels, and look similar to the famous Mini Lite wheels of old. RAYED did prevail
in the class, however.
The Friday evening fun was provided by the club at the
hotel in Frisco. We had lots of finger foods, good wine, and the
hotel had a manager’s happy hour for 2 hours! Free drinks!
Good thing I wasn’t driving anywhere that evening…
If you can break away next year, plan on going to this one.
The town of Frisco goes out of their way to make for an excellent venue for the show.
O
N SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3RD, COME TO BRICKTOWN
to play cars with other car nuts! The local Porsche
Club is hosting a car show that day to benefit Sunbeam
Family Services. The location is the Sonic parking lot across
from the ballpark, and so far, we have 3 or 4 of our number that
are going to be there.
To get more info, contact Louis Lackey at 821-5392. They
will accept entries on the day of the show.
Summary
What:
Where:
When:
Cost:
European Car Show
Bricktown Sonic
Saturday, Oct 3rd, 10:15 registration
$10
Widows and Idiots…
T
Or, The Great Jaguar Engine Bay Fire
HERE’S AN OLD SAYING THAT SAYS, MORE OR LESS,
that the Lord looks out for widows and idiots. I can
vouch for the part about the idiots.
A month or so back, I had James and Katie Vaughn at Euro
Tech order me a new underhood insulation pad for the XKR.
The original one was starting to look a bit scruffy due to some
pretty aggressive wear from rubbing against the tops of the
intercoolers.
I wanted to protect my handiwork, since I had James remove the intercoolers from the engine so I could paint them. I
took the parts home and painted them with high temperature
aluminum paint to make them look nicer than stock. I used GM
Victory Red touchup paint to paint the letters and make ‘em
look sharp. Plus, everyone knows that red letters will add a
good 4 to 5 mph on the top end!
Changing out the pad was an easy task. James even let me
have some sealant to use as glue to secure the pad to the underside of the hood, perhaps it wouldn’t sag and end up scruffy
looking.
I also applied some good, sound engineering practice to the
problem. Y’see, I had some t-shirt scraps that would make a
fine sacrificial element to the problem, put the scraps on the
intercoolers and let them wear out instead of the pad. When the
scraps get too dirty or start to wear, just replace them. Fine
idea, at least in theory. Donna said not to put flammable things
under the hood of the car. Poo-poo sez I, the intercoolers just
don’t get that hot, they are water cooled.
Well, all is well for a couple weeks. The scraps are just fine
thank you. They do their job and all is well.
All is well until a Saturday evening just before sundown. I
asked Donna to go for a ride with me, we’d drop the top and
enjoy a quick run up to Wal Mart so I can get some cough
drops. My allergies were acting up and giving me coughing fits
at night when I wanted to sleep.
As we pulled off the freeway, Donna hollered out that she
smelled smoke and saw a puff of smoke coming out from under
the hood of the car. I couldn’t confirm one way or the other
since my ability to smell things is pretty weak. The odors have
(Continued on page 7)
Page 6
Widows and Idiots...
Membership in COJA:
(Continued from page 6)
to be pretty strong to get through my allergy weakened sniffer.
I stopped the car, hit the flashers, and got out to check the
engine bay. As soon as I opened up the hood, two things occurred right away. The first is that the smoldering bit of t-shirt
scrap became smoldering no more. It began to flame up rather
nicely. Oh crap! The second thing is that with the sudden air
movement, the scrap of material fell down into the nether regions of the engine bay along the left side of the engine.
I tried to blow
out the fire, but
that just fanned the
flames! I had
Donna look in the
car for anything
that could reach
down there to
move the scrap
onto the ground.
The good thing is
that when the scrap
fell down, it landed Here’s a view of the undamaged left side of the
on a suspension engine bay. The t-shirt scrap started out at far
on top of the intercooler in the photo, but
cross
member. right
dangled or fell down and touched the exhaust
There it was, burn- manifold.
ing away, and I’m
frantically trying to figger out how to stop the fire, and hoping
I don’t ruin my underwear!
After about 6 or 7 years, actually about 2 minutes, the
scrap of material burned itself out. The Great Jaguar Engine
Bay Fire was over.
I looked over everything and all seemed to be OK. We
went on to Wal Mart, and then to the house. At home, I got a
good light and checked over everything, and I could not see
any damage. No sweat, I’ll look again in daylight.
After church on Sunday, I looked over the car pretty
closely with good lighting, and there was no apparent damage!
The pad was OK. The rubber hose lines on the left side of the
engine were OK. The exhaust manifold had some t-shirt material ash on the doughnut fitting, but it was OK.
From the looks of things, it seems that the original plan of
using the t-shirt material to absorb the rubbing was a fairly
good idea. The bad idea part was that there was no provision
for the possibility of the t-shirt scrap shifting its position into a
dangerous place! Uh, just like Donna warned me. Like dangling down or falling down and touching the exhaust manifold! Cotton material on the intercoolers: fine. Cotton material
on manifold: FIRE! I no longer put material under the hood of
the car. Duh.
Tell ya what, it’s a good thing that Donna came with me. I
probably would not have noticed the smoke, and would’ve
come out of the store to find my nice red convertible just a
smoking hulk!
As I said, I can vouch for the Lord being gracious and
looking out for certain folks, in this case an idiot!
S
UPPOSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BECOME A MEMBER
of the Jaguar Club? What are you supposed to do?
It’s pretty easy. Fill out the membership form below,
cut it out along the dotted line, enclose a check made out to
COJA for $45, and mail it to the editor at the address below.
The editor will promptly put your name on the mailing list, and
forward your info to the treasurer. The treasurer will take care
of the money part, and ensure that your info is sent to the JCNA
for processing into the international club.
Mail the form to:
Steve Houtari
Editor, Cat Tracks
10033 Hidden Hollow Lane
Oklahoma City, OK 73151
If you have any questions, please call Steve at 405-7715715, or you may email him at [email protected] and get your
questions answered that way.
Please note that if you have purchased a new or used Jaguar
from the dealership, your membership will be free for one calendar year! Contact Steve for particulars.
COJA Membership and Registration
Name:
First:____________________________________ MI:__________
Last:__________________________________________________
Spouse or
significant other:
First:____________________________________ MI:__________
Last:__________________________________________________
Mailing address:
Address:
_______________________________________
City & State:
________________________
Zip Code:
_________________
Home Phone:
(_______) ________ ___________
Office Phone:
(_______) ________ ___________
Cell Phone:
(_______) ________ ___________
Email address:
______________@______________
____________
Your Jaguar:
Page 7
Year:________ Model:___________________ Color: ___________
(Jaguar ownership is not a requirement for membership)
Concours d’Elegance…
Saturday, Oct 3rd
Page 1
Tech Session…
All European Car Show
Friday-Sunday, Oct 16-18
Page 4
Star of the Parade…
Fall Fling
Saturday, Nov 7th
Page 5
Fall Fling…
Food Bank
Saturday, Nov 14th
Page 5
Inventory Sale…
“Novemberfest Dinner”
TBD
Page 5
2010Calendar Planning
JOASW Concours…
Page 6
All European Car Show…
Page 6
Widows and Idiots…
Page 6
Steve Houtari
Editor, Cat Tracks
10033 Hidden Hollow Lane
Oklahoma City, OK
73151
Central Oklahoma Jaguar Association
Page 8